Finding Your Strength

Once upon a time long, long ago, there lived a king who had two twin sons. Because they were identical, there was some confusion as to which son was born first. As the sons grew to manhood, this became quite important inasmuch as which son would rise to the throne upon the King’s death was traditionally determined by who was born first. This bothered the good King immensely and he pondered long and hard as to how he could fairly choose which son he would name as the kingdom’s crown prince.

All who knew the two sons thought them equal in intelligence, wit, personal charm, health and physical strength. Being identical twins they were also equally strikingly handsome. The wise and keenly observant king, however, sensed that there was one trait that was not shared by both. He decided to put them both to a challenge to confirm his intuition.

The next day the king called both his sons into the council chambers and said, “My sons, the day will come when one of you must succeed me as king. I must confess that the burdens of sovereignty are often very heavy, therefore, to find out which of you is better able to bear these burdens cheerfully, I am sending you out together to a far corner of my kingdom. Once there, my most trusted advisor will place equal burdens on your shoulders. The one who I choose to be the successor to my crown shall be the one of you who returns first bearing his burden as a king should.”

The brothers immediately departed on their quest. The brothers loved each other very much but were also very competitive and each was mindful of the importance of this challenge. Shortly after departing they came across an old woman who was on the road heading toward a nearby marketplace. The woman was bent over and struggling with her load of goods which were in a large sack that she had slung over her back. The large and heavy sack seemed far too heavy for the fail body of the poor old lady. Moved by the sight, one of the sons suggested that they stop to help her. The other protested saying, “We have to find our father’s advisor then secure our own burdens and return home to the palace. We have far more to worry about as the consequence of our task will determine who will be the future king. Surely attending to what we have to do is more important than this old lady’s troubles.”

The brother who objected hurried on down the road, but the other stayed behind. He was moved by the struggles of the old woman so he stopped to assist her with her load. After carrying her wares to the market, the brother then continued on with his journey but he was so far behind his twin that he could no longer see him and had no idea how far ahead he might be. Over the next few days along the road he passed others who also needed help. A blind man took him miles out of his way, and a lame man slowed him to a cripple’s walk. Though hopelessly behind his twin brother and obviously losing his challenge, his compassion compelled him to stop and give those who needed it a helping hand.

Eventually he did reach the remote edge of the kingdom where his father’s trusted advisor awaited with the immense burden he was to carry back to the King’s palace. His twin brother had arrived days ahead of him and was obviously so far ahead that his lead would be insurmountable. Regardless, the late arriving son secured his own burden and started home. When he arrived at the palace, his brother met him at the gate, greeting him with dismay. He said, “I don’t understand it. After carrying the load for six full days and nights, I lost all my strength and had to leave my burden on the side of the road lest I surely perish from its weight. Upon my arrival home, I told our father that the burden was too heavy to carry for any man. Although you have arrived days later than I, you have obviously been able to shoulder your equal burden. How is it possible that you could do so?”

The future king replied thoughtfully, “I suppose in helping those I encountered along my way to carry their burdens, I found the strength to carry my own.”